35 degrees to 1

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Geo: 30.25, 120.17

And so that concludes the Malaysian part of my travels and how amazing it was. As I sit on the plane back to Hangzhou unable to sleep as it's a 4 hour flight of incessant turbulence, I got to thinking about just how much has happened over the last 6 Weeks (gotta do something whilst candy crush reloads right?!). I've met people from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Norway, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, America, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Japan, South Korea, Austria, Indonesia, India, Canada and possibly more that I can't remember. Each person had a really interesting story to tell and came from totally different walk of life, I've met civil engineers, lawyers, bankers, export industry workers, marine biologists, musicians, carers, tour guides, oil and gas workers, NGO workers, policemen, retired people, other teachers, software engineers, fishermen and again, many more that I can't remember. Usually the first thing they all say after realizing that I'm traveling solo is 'oh how brave you are, I'm too nervous to do anything like that'. This is totally not true. Jumping on a plane/train/bus knowing that I'll find food/a bed at whenever I end up is not brave. People who move countries with only the possessions on their back are brave. The soldiers who are in the Middle East are brave. Running around Asia with a backpack is actually really really easy and the best experience; I think that more people should do it. I also realized that none of this would be possible/so easy if I didn't hold a UK passport- it's amazing how much we take being able to enter so many countries visa/hassle free.

Today was another example of how easy it is to travel and how great hostels are. I met a Malay Chinese guy from Kuala Lumpur at breakfast who offered to drive me to the airport this afternoon- I have no idea how I've met such genuinely nice people. I have a lot of karma points to earn back! So this morning him, the Taiwanese guy and myself wandered around the city markets buying snacks to take back for my colleagues and practicing Chinese (well, I was!). After this we found a really famous laksa restaurant and ate my last Malaysian meal- it was delicious! Laksa is a type of rice noodle soup with shrimp, coriander, spices, bean sprouts and other vegetables.

Kota Kinabalu airport was an experience in itself. A tiny building not far out of city, it has about 2 flights an hour. Which is more than Brunei's 5 a day, but still not many. Check in and security took about 5 minutes and then came immigration. I caused a bit of a human traffic jam here. The immigration officer first commented on how sunburnt I was- I didn't think it was that bad but apparently I am most definitely lobster color. After this she quizzed me on Hangzhou- what I was doing there, places to go, things to eat etc etc. I was a little confused until I realized that she wants to go of holiday there and it all had nothing to do with whether I'd actually be allowed out of Malaysia. After about 10 minutes she had finally ran out of questions, and much to the relief of the queue of people behind me, let me go. Weirdest thing if the day: a kid carrying a box of live terrapins onto the plane.

I'm back in Hangzhou now and it's raining and absolutely freezing but it's great to see everyone again. I'm staying with Yuyang this week and I'm hoping she'll teach me how to cook so that I don't return home totally hopeless. If it works I'll make everyone dinner but you have to eat with chopsticks...!

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